Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) President Younus Muhammad Bashir expressed deep concern over the arrest of two top executives of AKD Securities Limited by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and said that the business and industrial community of Karachi was deeply shocked over this incident.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the KCCI president demanded that the FIA must clarify its action against the CEO and CFO of AKD Securities taken on the basis of a research report prepared by the AKD Securities.
“How a Brokerage House could be held responsible for the ups and downs in trading of shares,” he asked, adding that it was highly unfair to arrest the executives of AKD Securities on the basis of a report which predicted appreciation in shares of a particular company. On the contrary, these shares depreciated which was not an unusual incident as it could happen anytime in any stock exchange around the world, he added.
He mentioned that the AKD Securities executives had been picked up in the case of EOBI’s share trading wherein as many as 40 buyers and sellers were involved who sold and purchased EOBI shares while the main accused in EOBI scam had never been arrested.
Younus Bashir stated that it was a sheer act of harassment against the business and industrial community of Karachi which contributes a massive chunk of more than 65 per cent revenue to the national kitty.
“If such anti-business and extremely harassing business atmosphere prevails, the businessmen and industrialists in Karachi will have no other option but to rethink their business strategies on how/whether to continue their businesses or not. The situation will have a negative impact on the overall economic performance of the country,” he added.
He urged Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, Federal Finance Minister Ishaq Dar and Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar to take strict notice of this particular incident to refrain the FIA from taking such unfounded steps which would have a deep negative impact on Pakistan’s economy.